RSA Re-Invent the Toilet Winner

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The gang rape and hanging of two teenage girls whilst defecating in the open in Uttar Pradesh, India, shows the explicitly important link between sanitation and safety for women. The events also highlight the challenging attitudes towards sanitation as Jack Sim, World Toilet Organisation founder explains – “There has to be a market for toilets. Right now there is a need for toilets but not a demand.”

The Community Toilet aims to address this issue by actively engaging the community in the creation of the toilet space. This creates a sense of ownership and pride, the key elements to making a sanitation project a success.

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The project received an RSA Design Award in 2014.

This is a sight faced by far too many people in peri-urban settlements, another toilet project abandoned and in disrepair. The problem is a lack of ownership by the local community and a perception that defecating in a field by their own homes is much safer and cleaner than using these ugly and dirty toilets.

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The community toilet aims to address this issue by actively engaging the community in the creation of the toilet space. This creates a sense of ownership and pride, the key elements to making a sanitation project a success.

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The process is focused on creating a sense of ownership within the community. This was done through paying close attention to how the NGO interacts with the community throughout the entire process and how community control is organised in order to foster the feeling of ownership.

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Receiving the award from the Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple, Richard Howarth